Designing Fold: a Q&A with Ryan Euinton

When Bodytorque.à la mode choreographer Robert Curran and fashion designer Ryan Euinton met for the first time to brainstorm costume designs for Fold, they were on the same page. Robert wanted to explore ideas of flesh, layers, and touch; Ryan’s work had explored these themes before (pictured above). Ryan let us in on how he approached the costume designs for Fold.

Tell us about the design brief you were given for Fold …
Robert Curran spoke to me about the ideas, feelings, colours and textures of the piece. From the very start we knew the title of the work – Fold – and that it would involve an exploration of skin and the body. Bodytorque 2010 focuses on fashion so, naturally, we wanted the piece to stand alone as a product of fashion.

Your RMIT graduate work centered on ideas of covering and uncovering the body; have these ideas filtered into your Bodytorque work?
Yes, definitely. As a group of designers working on the various ballets within the programme, we all remarked how there was piece almost waiting for each of us.

What are some words that were flying around your head when you were designing this piece?
Corsets, legs, flesh.

Have you faced any challenges during the design process?
Trying to create impact that cuts across the distance between performer and spectator. Also, the subtle methods of sewing construction that needs to be incredibly robust.

What has it been like designing for dance?
Quite liberating, actually. I feel very fortunate for the opportunity to take ideas beyond, perhaps, where I would normally stop.

You recently completed an internship with luxe ready-to-wear Californian label Rodarte. What did you take away from this experience?
In terms of the city of Los Angeles, it was quite a polarising experience – of course, in a great way. In terms of Rodarte, seeing the tools and processes used to replicate something many times over, which seems innately singular, or one-off, was invaluable. Going hours out of Downtown to a NASA desert dump site to find bits and bobs for Louboutin prototypes was one of the highlights.

What else are you working on at the moment?
A Masters application for Central St Martins, London.

What themes/people/films/books/events in history inform your work?
Any old tome about couture sewing techniques, Helmut Newton‘s nude series, 16th century sexually-charged Reformation painting and Twin Peaks.

What everyday things inspire you?
My fellow designers.

Walk us through your studio …
It’s currently in mine and my boyfriend’s sunroom in our house in St Kilda. It’s got a good iron which I can leave on all day, an OK sewing machine which I want to replace, and a big table that I can elevate. Our Tonkinese cat Raleigh usually keeps an eye on things.

Bodytorque.à la mode plays in Sydney 27 – 30 May